Today we’d like to introduce you to Harry Rios.
Hi Harry, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in New Orleans on a Naval base with a deep love for music. Music was always playing in the streets and in our house and my father was a musician in the Navy band. Oftentimes the house would be full of music that my mother would be playing. Salsa, merengue, pop tunes and everything in between. The house would also be full of other musicians and my dad would rehearse with them. I took a liking to the piano when I was about 6 years old. I was a very inquisitive child. I would always ask the piano players questions like “how’d you do that? Can you play that again?” And I would try to capture the things I would see them play. I was utterly fascinated by the piano and anyone’s ability to make it sing. Even when my sister played I would try to mimic the things I heard her doing. When everyone would leave for the day and my sister went to do her other homework, I’d stay at the piano practicing the things I learned that day. It was an obsession for me to the point that sometimes I wouldn’t eat or drink until I played that phrase correctly or got that passage up to speed. And it was all by ear because I couldn’t read music at first.
My parents enrolled me in lessons early on but I think at the time I was too distracted and kind of wanted to do my own thing. So I quit lessons and just played the things I wanted to play like Linus and Lucy from the Vince Guaraldi trio or as most people would know the Charlie Brown Song.
After leaving the military, my dad was playing in the horn section as a trombonist for legendary trumpet player Al Hirt up until the day Al passed away. Then my dad formed his own group in New Orleans and would bring me to his rehearsals and occasionally have me play in front of a crowd. I must have been about 10 when I played at the jazz fest for 1 song and that was all it took to get me hooked. When the crowd went wild I got a taste of the stage and ever since then I haven’t looked back.
I went to Valencia Community college in Orlando and Stetson University up in DeLand for piano performance and that’s where I got my classical chops. But while I was studying Beethoven I was taking jazz gigs all over town and making some money on the side. By the time I got out of college I was playing at church, restaurants, clubs and hotels.
When I turned 30 I decided I hadn’t seen enough of the world so I sent a couple of showreels to some cruise line agencies and eventually got in. Then I did a couple of contracts out of Tampa with Royal Caribbean at the piano bar and loved it. I was seeing the world and doing what I loved. Eventually I wrote my own stage show and got picked up as a headlining act where instead of spending months on one ship and working every day I only spend a week on a different ship oftentimes from different cruise lines and work 2 days as the main act on their biggest stage in their theater with a band at my command. A real dream come true.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not but by the grace of God I’ve been very blessed to be surrounded by a great family. My parents got a divorce when I was still quite young and I buried myself in my music. It took me years to actually process some of the feelings I’d been ignoring and it wasn’t until the pandemic that I had a chance to slow down and really look at myself. I’d been running away from my problems and although I had a healthy outlet in music, it was also a way for me to escape my inner issues. When I was finally able to confront them head on is when real growth started and my life began to take on a different shape. I’m still very close with my family. I just get 2 birthdays and Christmas’ now.
I’ve had to work hard for every opportunity I now have and if it weren’t for me front loading a lot of stuff without pay, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an entertainer, pianist, vocalist, arranger, music director and storyteller. My storytelling is through music and I love telling my story in particular which explores my Puerto Rican heritage and my New Orleans upbringing and how those two powerhouse musical cultures influenced me to build a whole show that I travel the world with. The show is called Latin Beats on the Bayou and it’s a blend of Latin music with a New Orleans back beat and Dixieland flair. I love taking songs everyone knows and arranging them in ways they haven’t heard before, giving them a personal twist while honoring the original.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Don’t accept other people’s limitations of you or let them impose their fears and shortcomings onto you. If you believe in something and that you can do it, then do it no matter if someone (even that you respect) tells you you can’t. Also, you are always a work in progress and the work never stops.
Pricing:
- I created My Piano By Ear because I realized people didn’t need years of classical training to experience the joy of playing piano. There’s a free challenge on MyPianoByEar.com for anyone curious to try.
- Beats Without Borders is an educational touring program I created for schools. It’s designed to help students experience the instruments and cultural roots of jazz and American music firsthand. More info at beats.harrylrios.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://HarryLRios.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harrylriospiano
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1M1zPwbDco/
Image Credits
@Bhlphotography
@Phaerosfilms
